The prison siege.  What a debacle.
I am dreading the fallout already.  The Gaping Maw (Hodgman) will hijack the event once he feels it is safe to do so, once again howling for Judy Jackson’s resignaton.  At the moment he is tending the nest of self love and keeping it very warm, waiting to heft his bulk from the comfortable cocoon and launch a tirade upon a braced and fearful Tasmania.
Then we’ll have Judy, dithering about, not really sure what has happened, but nonetheless pissed off that some cretins east of the Derwent have spoiled what would have otherwise been a nice week.
Graeme Barber will front the news, sending children to sleep and transfixing adults.
A reeling and punch drunk public will then be beset by the Prison Action and Reform Group.  An extraordinarily amateurish and generally useless group; they will revel in the media attention whilst blaming any criminal action by inmates on the prison and justice system. 
No one really believes that the prison system in Tasmania is a well oiled machine - that much is true.  It putts along like a decrepit old Renault, begging to be put out of its misery.  However this does not give the Prison Action and Reform Group the right to pass off the threats against the detained prison warden as being justifiable.  Nor does it give them the right to blame the prison system 100% for every past, present and future misdemeanour of every inmate.

It is simply not acceptable in the 21st century to be so blatantly stupid.  Natural selection dictates that some members of the Prison Action and Reform Group should have been weeded out of the gene pool long ago, their very existence defies logic.
Unfortunately these drones who are incapable of balanced and reasonable debate, will join the aforementioned in a tiresome tirade of self pity.  I am contemplating taking myself hostage, holding myself to ransom and demanding that we can enjoy one week without any of them opening their mouths.  I’m on the edge, take note.
Geoff Rollins
Riverside

The human rights abuses at Risdon include appalling food, poor medical supervision, grossly inadequate housing; assaults; etc

For the record, I was in Melbourne with my seven year old son on Saturday night but visited the vigil yesterday and will be meeting with the Prison Action Reform group this week.

I note the snide and cynical response to the plight of the prisoners by those who replied to my comment.  What a pity.

“I note the snide and cynical response to the plight of the prisoners by those who replied to my comment.  What a pity.” [Greg Barns]

Not the plight of the prisoners, Greg, more your use of their situation as yet another straw man to bash those who care for the fate of our forests.  Straw man construction has always drawn and will always draw cynical responses - it’s human nature.

Personally, I’d prefer to see this debate raised above the level of Hodgman Snr; it would be helpful if Barns, Rollins and PARG all had a sip from that same cup.

Can I aks Mr Lovell and Ms Rosser this question:

Why is it that human rights abuse issues do not attract the attention of those who campaign so vociferously for trees, animals and clean water?

Why were more people not supporting the PARG over the weekend by driving to Risdon and standing along side them?

Okay Greg, in the spirit of debate, I’ll have a go:

1 - I think your initial premise is incorrect - human rights issues do attract my concern, but I’m a political professional and could see no point in standing around outside Risdon Prison in support of men who had taken hostages.  I believe the prisoners involved have genuine greivances and from what I can see Prison Action and Reform is across those issues and will represent the prisoners effectively, with or without my physical presence outside the prison for a few hours.  But, regardless of the above, in this particular situation I do draw the line at driving 50 miles to support men holding a prison officer hostage and threatening to cut off his fingers. 

2 - Human rights abuses committed against incarcerated criminals attract less opprobium than those committed against the general community.  This is not my fault, nor is it the fault of people who object to current forestry practices. 

3 - Abuses committed against criminals in an institution 50 miles from my home do tend to upset me less than repeatedly being blanketed with smoke for 16 hours straight and waking up all night long coughing every time it happens.  While I don’t support the abuses, in fact I am horrified by them, I don’t think the prioritisation of personal health is unreasonable and, again, this position is not limited to those who object to current forestry practices.  In fact, I think you’ve actually written on this topic yourself Greg, only your focus was mental rather than physical health.

Finally, I DO care what happens to the prisoners at Risdon, one of my best mates from primary school is heavily involved with PARG and I generally support their lobbying and care about their progress.  But not as much as I care about the respiratory health of my family and animals.  Forestry affects my physical and mental health Greg, its in my backyard and its my major concern.  This in no way reduces my concerns for other issues. 

We’re all human Barnsie - you, me ... and them.

Jason

Two replies to Mr Lovell will suffice:

One he is utterly selfish - if it’s not something happening in my backyard then why bother making an effort to support it.

Second - as is the case with detention centres where detainees have sewed their lips together and mounted the roof, gone on hunger strike etc, desperate people kept in inhumane conditions do desperate things.

Ah, Barnsie, Barnsie, Barnsie.

Utterly Selfish, eh? 

Given my clear indication that the health of others is involved in my decision making and given my acknowledgement of the prisoner’s demands and the need to take them forward, I reject your ridiculous allegation. 

I suspect that in this case, “selfish” means “doesn’t fully agree with Greg.”

And Greg, there is NO justification for threatening to cut a man’s fingers off.  None.  Not ever.

Jason

“And Greg, there is NO justification for threatening to cut a man’s fingers off.  None.  Not ever.”

Jase, are you sure? Personally I reckon it would solve a couple of Tasmanian Times’ problems given that a keyboard is operated by fingers.

I refer to Mr Rollins’ statement, “A reeling and punch drunk public will then be beset by the Prison Action and Reform Group.  An extraordinarily amateurish and generally useless group; they will revel in the media attention whilst blaming any criminal action by inmates on the prison and justice system.”

It is offensive and ignorant.  This group has helped an untold number of prisoners in a practical and selfless way.  It is a serious adovacy group and has been responsible for bringing to the community’s attention widespread abuse in the prison system in Tasmania.

Mr Rollins’ should check his facts.

Mr Barns,

I’ll give you the gong for bringing me to task over calling PARG “useless”, as you are right. They are genuinely concerned about Prison Reform and are highlighting problems deeply entrenched in the system.  Fair enough and apologies to PARG.

However, a couple of prominent members of the group are just plain out of control.  There’s no balance to their arguments, it’s always blame someone else and bugger the facts.

It seems to me that people in the public eye, like Politicans, PARG and whoever else feel the immense pressure to always be right and avoid scrutiny to further their cause or mandate. Therefore they move beyond the level of balanced discussion and start working with spin, finger pointing and always saying it is someone elses fault.

For some people the media is like a drug, the more they get it the more they want it - and some people will do or say anything to get their fix.

i think the prison system is wrong some prisoner`s don`t get a case manager my partner is in there and has said they get treated unfairly and he`s in minimum security, something needs to be done about the prison and the way the prisoners are treated,